Political crisis

France, the new premier is Bayrou

61% of French people say they are worried about the political situation. The French president, meanwhile, garners the trust of just 21% of French people, the lowest level since his arrival at the Elysée in 2017

12 December 2024articolo aggiornato il 13 dicembre 2024, alle ore 9,54

Francia, Francois Bayrou nominato premier dall'Eliseo

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The new premier of France is François Bayrou. This was announced by the Elysée Palace. The morning rumours that the talks between Macron and Bayrou had not gone well and also press rumours that he would not be prime minister were denied. Macron appointed Bayrou as prime minister after lengthy consultations to find a successor to Michel Barnier, who was challenged by MPs last week. "The president of the Republic has appointed Mr François Bayrou as prime minister, entrusting him with the task of forming a government," reads a statement released by the Elysée. The MoDem leader, the Head of State's first ally and a centrist political figure, will have the difficult task of forming a government capable of surviving a National Assembly without a majority and getting the budget for 2025 adopted.

Bayrou, 73, is expected to present his list of ministers in the coming days, but he is likely to face the same difficulties as Barnier in steering the government through a hung parliament of three warring blocs. His closeness to the unpopular Macron will also prove to be a vulnerability.

A centrist, a man of mediation, a long-time politician, Bayrou was born into a family of farmers, graduated in classical literature and was also a high school teacher. A practising Catholic, he was president of the Centre of Social Democrats, the French Christian Democracy, and has been a member of the National Assembly since 1986.

Shortly after the announcement of Bayrou's appointment in Matignon, the president of the Rassemblement national (Rn) announced that "there will be no a priori censorship" against the new head of government. "Our red lines remain, they will not vary," he added. Bardella then criticised a 'bunkered president who has chosen a new prime minister who must take into account the new political situation'. "The President of the Republic has clearly not lost sight of the Rassemblement National's (Rn) demand for a prime minister with a sense of dialogue and democracy. Now we must quickly get back to work on the budget,' Rn leader Marine Le Pen told Le Parisien after Bayrou's appointment.

Mathilde Panot, leader of Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise, has already proclaimed that her party will immediately present 'a motion of no-confidence' against the Bayrou government.

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Meanwhile, 61% of French people say they are worried about the political situation in France, according to a poll conducted by the Elabe Institute for BFMTV, while waiting for the president, Emmanuel Macron, to appoint a new premier as expected after the fall of Michel Barnier's government.

As for the so-called 'non-censorship' agreement evoked in recent days between Macron and the political forces (with the exception of Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National and Jean-Luc Mélenchon's France Insoumise), 69% see it as positive for putting an end to instability. Asked about the future government, 41% would like an apolitical premier, 23% would like him to be from the left, 17% from the Rassemblement National, and only 6% Macronian.

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Macron confidence at a low

The French president, meanwhile, garners the trust of just 21% of French people, the lowest level since his arrival at the Elysée Palace in 2017, according to a poll conducted by the Elabe institute for Les Echos, as France prepares to appoint a new prime minister in Matignon after the fall of Michel Barnier's government.

Among other political personalities, confidence is growing in the former centre-right premier and head of the Horizons party, Edouard Philippe (41%, +4 points in one month), but also in the former Macronian premier Gabriel Attal (37%, +4 points) and in the president of the Rassemblement National, Jordan Bardella (35%, +1 point).

The poll shows, among other things, the strong progression of François Bayrou, the leader of the centrist MoDem party, indicated in the totoministers as a possible future premier of France to replace the resigning Michel Barnier. Bayrou gained eight points in popularity in one month to reach 29%, in seventh place. Another pretender to Matignon, Bernard Cazeneuve, is in ninth place, gaining 28%, 5 points more than in the previous poll.

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